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Press Release "Outdoor Classrooms-One Bucket at a Time Classroom Kits"
 
These learning areas
vary widely but offer teachers ways to provide hands on experience to
students who go outside the school building to see, feel, hear and
touch the natural outdoors and learn the “outdoor” things now
required.
Explore below for
more exciting ways and options on this.
An outdoor classroom, also sometimes referred to
as a schoolyard habitat or community restoration project is a space
set aside for the development of natural habitats in which students
and community members can learn about science and the outdoors through
a hands on experience. Although most of what is done in an outdoor
classroom relates to the environment, it is also an interactive
opportunity for students and adults to learn how math, literature,
history, art, and music are influenced by nature and our natural
resources.
Outdoor classrooms help to peak the interest of
students in the world around them and the importance of wildlife and
natural resource conservation. The classrooms also help to encourage
citizens and other community leaders to be involved in education and
the environment through the donation of labor, materials, specific
instruction or financial support. This new setting for the classroom
provides boundless educational activities for teachers and students
that would not be available in a conventional learning space. The
outdoor classroom becomes a sanctuary for abundant species, as
habitats that suit their basic needs are created. Students are able to
learn what types of plants and habitats are needed by specific animals
and can use this knowledge to help design the classroom space based on
what species they want to attract. Student involvement in the initial
design and future upkeep are essential to the future success of the
outdoor habitat.
Outdoor Classrooms can come in many different
shapes and sizes depending on a group's resource and space
constraints. Something as simple as a flower or vegetable garden or as
intricate as a pond, aquatic investigation site, or weather station
can be built as an outdoor classroom. Other ideas include butterfly
gardens, forest trails, gardens with particular themes (art gardens),
amphitheaters, courtyards, bird sanctuaries, and animal tracking
boxes. Creativity is crucial and will make the outdoor classroom
experience a delight for all involved.
Types of Outdoor Classrooms:
- Ponds, streams and wetlands
- Butterfly and wildflower gardens
- Agriculture gardens- vegetable etc.
- Bird and squirrel sanctuaries
- Composting and recycling areas
- Arboretums with native trees, shrubs, plants
and nursery areas
- Weather stations
- Amphitheaters, shelters, nature trails and
other structures
- Art gardens - sculpture, oriental, artist
specific gardens (Monet- water lilies; Van Gogh sunflowers)
- Oyster gardens
Examples of:
Outdoor Classrooms in Virginia
The
“Bucket approach/bucket
brigade” to Outdoor Classrooms.
The set of buckets offered to K-2 teachers includes
one sturdy child-sized bucket for each student, and a 5 gallon teacher
bucket. These are seats, ready for observing and communicating times,
containers, ready for measuring and experimenting, and further, they
are tools for service projects. A bucket is a desk for drawing or
writing, a “home-base” for an explorer, a drum. It will hold a
reading book, colored pencils, a snack, or a sprayer, flashlight, and
net. Or a clipboard and scavenger hunt. A bucket will protect you
from the wet grass, or allow you to take water to newly planted
tree. Several buckets are a reading group or the basis for a math
pattern. The teacher bucket will hold the materials for the outdoor
lesson, a clicker or bell to communicate with explorers, nets, scopes,
field guides and a puppet mascot. Of course, all science teachers want
to be more like Ms. Frizzle (or Mr. Frizzle!) Contact your SWCD
today!
Teacher Resources:
1.
(Click here to learn how to
purchase recycled buckets)
2. (Click
here to see a sample flyer for a partnering herb farm for outdoor
classrooms,
Contact
a local grower in your area and create an outdoor
classroom
partnership.
3. Click
here to download Bucket label for bucket kit project
4.
Butterfly Garden Teachers’ Guide (developed by Hyla Brook
Farms)
5.
Salamanders and Vernal Pools - Springtime Activities
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Marl Creek
Environmental Education Activities
The Marl Creek Trail Interpretive site
www.teacherbridge.org/public/projects/forested/marlcreek/Home
has resources and supplies for many environmental education
activities. These activities are geared toward 4th graders but can
be adapted to meet your needs. The trail's interpretative signs have
key terms highlighted that correspond to 4th grade SOL's. There are
general activity boxes with materials to enhance or help you plan
your lesson. There are also game boxes with all the equipment and
instructions necessary to introduce environmental topics through
fun-filled, action-packed games. Plan your own day or have a planned
program day coordinated by Sandy Greene, Environmental Education
Coordinator, Headwaters Soil and Water Conservation District.
www.teacherbridge.org/public/projects/forested/marlcreek/Activities
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Augusta Springs Wetlands
Welcome to Augusta
Springs! We are an electronic
commons created for volunteers and visitors to Augusta
Springs, a popular U.S. Forest
Service wetlands and conservation education center on the North
River Ranger District, George
Washington
National Forest. The purpose of
this site is to help students of all ages learn about the role that
forests, particularly the National Forests, play in protecting and
enhancing our most precious resource- clean water.
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Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s Schoolyard Habitat Assistance
Program
Do you want to create a vibrant schoolyard full of educational
opportunities for your students? Do you want to create colorful and
fragrant garden space, attract wildlife habitat, and create an
interactive outdoor classroom? Do you want to engage the surrounding
community in your habitat projects?
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WILD School Sites, DGIF
Project WILD is a national Kindergarten through 12th grade wildlife
education program correlated to the Virginia Science Standards of
Learning. Two Activity Guides, an Introductory Guide and an Aquatic
Guide, provide educators with the information needed to teach
wildlife conservation and the importance of habitat.
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Lessons from the Bay, DOE
The purpose of Lessons from the Bay is to help Virginia school
teachers of grades 3 through 6 incorporate into their classrooms a
variety of activities and projects related to protecting and
restoring the Chesapeake Bay watershed, in keeping with the state's
commitment in the
Chesapeake 2000
Agreement.
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Water Education Resource Guide, Longwood College
Information and activities for teachers to support interdisciplinary
and problem-based teaching about watersheds, water quality,
stewardship, and management issues. Correlated to Virginia's
Standards of Learning (SOL). Supports the Chesapeake 2000
Agreement's goal to "provide a meaningful Bay or stream outdoor
experience for every school student in the watershed before
graduation from high school."
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Schoolyard Habitat, USFW
The Schoolyard Habitat program helps teachers and students create
wildlife habitat on school grounds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service provides and coordinates with other agencies to give
technical assistance and project guidance; provides teacher
training; develops written resources; and works with the state
Departments of Education on incorporating habitat issues into new
school construction and renovation projects.
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Schoolyard
Habitats - Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor
Education Who, What, When, Where and Why of
Schoolyard Habitats.
Existing grant programs and funding
opportunities in Virginia:
Virgina Naturally Classroom Grants
www.vanaturally.com/classroomgrants.html
Virginia Environmental Endowment
www.vee.org
Dominion Virginia Power
www.dom.com/about/education/grants/grants.jsp
Chesapeake Bay license plate
www.dcr.state.va.us/sw/bayfund.htm
http://dls.virginia.gov/cbrfac.htm
Virginia Chapter of the Wildlife Society Mini
Grants
http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/vatws
Lowe's Supports Local Communities
Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation
The Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation supports
community-based, grassroots organizations in the local communities
where Lowe's operates stores and distribution centers, including
communities in all states except New Hampshire, Vermont, and
Wisconsin. The Foundation supports K-12 public education including
playground enhancements, landscaping and painting, and outdoor
learning environments such as educational gardening programs;
community improvement, including park and neighborhood
beautification and clean-up and neighborhood revitalization; and
vocational trade scholarships. Deadlines for the Fall 2007-2008
cycle are Mid-October 2007 and Mid-February 2008. Once 1500
applications are received per cycle, the application process will
close.
The Lorrie Otto
Seeds for Education Grant Program
The Lorrie Otto Seeds
for Education Grant Program gives small monetary grants to schools,
nature centers, or other non-profit educational organizations for
the purpose of establishing outdoor learning centers. The grant
recipient learning centers are those which most successfully reflect
the Wild Ones mission to educate and share information about the
benefits of using native plants in our landscape and to promote
biodiversity and environmentally sound environmentally sound
practices. Only through this knowledge, can we appreciate
humankind's proper place in the web of life.
D.C. Schoolyard Greening (Local and regional grant
opportunities)
The
mission of the D.C. Schoolyard Greening Consortium is to increase
and improve schoolyard green spaces to promote ecological literacy
and environmental stewardship among students, teachers, parents and
the surrounding community.
2008 Healthy Sprouts Awards
Application
deadline: October 15, 2008
These awards sponsored by
Gardener's
Supply, support schools and community organizations that use
gardens to teach about nutrition and explore the issue of hunger in
the United States. For the 2007 grant cycle, National Gardening
Association will present awards to 20 programs. The top five will
receive gift certificates to Gardener's Supply valued at $500; 15
more will each receive a $200 gift certificate. All will receive a
curriculum package from NGA.
Ag in the Classroom
Instructional
Garden Grants
Instructional Garden Grants are offered
to Virginia classroom teachers to help them integrate agriculture
and gardening into classroom lessons. Agriculture and gardening
provide a living laboratory where lessons are drawn from real-life
experience rather than textbook examples, allowing students to
become active participants in the learning process.
Seeds of Change
The Seed Donation Program gives seeds to organizations that promote
education and sustainable living through organic gardening projects.
Seeds of Change is committed to providing 100% certified organic,
open-pollinated seeds of the highest quality including many
heirloom, traditional, and unique Seeds of Change varieties.
Helpful Links:
Native Plant
Nurseries
The School Garden Project
Science educators have long recognized the value of school gardens in
motivating students to study science. Recent studies show that school
gardening programs also boost students’ scores on science achievement
tests.
National
Gardening Association
Contains discussion forums, a school garden registry, grant resources,
classroom success stories, fact sheets about plants, frequently asked
questions.
National Wildlife Federation
The site provides educator resources, a free email newsletter, school
examples, and basic tips on how to create a school habitat.
US Fish and Wildlife
Service
Download a copy of their 133-page publication called
Schoolyard Habitat
Project Guide.
American Horticulture Society
This KidsGrow Page, as part of the Rockefeller Center TreeTop Science
Project, provides information about butterfly gardens and why they are
important.
Learning Through Landscapes
The schoolyard "movement" began in UK in the early1990's.
Center for
Environmental Education
Exemplary school guidelines; bibliographies of books and curricula;
sample articles from Nature's Course newsletter and various web links.
Boston Schoolyard
Initiative
Lists success stories and models of how Boston supports schoolyard
projects with capital funds, staff and training.
Classroom Connect
A site for K-12 teachers that provides access to email lists and
discussion groups for online lesson plans and curricula. It also
includes funding resources.
Project WILD
Sample activities and links. The program emphasizes wildlife as well
as its importance as a basis for teaching how ecosystems function.
Learnscapes
A non-profit organization dedicated to helping schools develop their
grounds for learning.
Project Learning Tree (PLT)
In response to the growing interest in encouraging children
to get outside, PLT has launched a national initiative Every
Student Learns Outside™ and website
www.learnoutside.org to help educators make outdoor experiences
part of their everyday lesson plans.
To access PLT’s Branch EE
Newsletter visit
www.plt.org/cms/pages/36_124_110.html
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